Cable & Wireless HKT and Finland's Nokia have completed the first phase of trials on third-generation (3G) mobile-phone technology in Hong Kong.
Third-generation technologies such as wideband code division multiple access (CDMA) will be built on top of existing networks and can support transmission speeds of up to 384 kilobits per second, making multimedia services like video-conferencing, Web browsing and video gaming on mobile phones possible.
HKT plans to have 3G services in place by the end of next year or the beginning of 2002 and will be holding an open tender for equipment suppliers if the company is awarded a 3G licence, according to Adam Wong, HKT's director of mobile networks.
In Hong Kong, rival SmarTone has already conducted 3G trials in conjunction with Swedish supplier Ericsson. Mr Wong expected up to six licences to be awarded by the end of this year.
Though voice traffic still makes up about 97 per cent of Hong Kong's mobile-phone traffic, providers such as HKT see data traffic as an important source of future revenue and profit.
'We are aiming for data services to be on par with voice services,' he said.
The tests, conducted at a site in Yuen Long, will continue in order to address technical challenges such as how to deliver consistent signal quality in high-density, high-demand central business areas.